by ElysianKiss
last time on Feudal Weather Witch...
He could feel her presence. Kikyo was near and waiting for
him. His suspicions were confirmed as a soul snatcher greeted him
in the courtyard.
"Kikyo, show yourself,"
he said.
The undead priestess stepped out from behind a column and faced
him, her face devoid of any emotion and her dull brown eyes fixed upon
him. What was it she could possibly want from him?
Drizzle
Kikyo face Naraku with a calm demeanor. She
felt disgusted with herself for needing his assistance, but she had no
other choice. Slowly, but surely, her strength was diminishing.
The amount of souls she needed to survive were increasing. She knew
her time was drawing close. And with her reincarnate steadily winning
the affections of InuYasha, her vengeance would never be complete.
Honestly, Kikyo had nothing personal against her reincarnation. It
was the insufferable InuYasha she truly wanted, and Kagome just proved
to be an obstacle to her goal. And now an even greater opportunity
for vengeance had appeared.
Naraku watched as a flicker of emotion actually
crossed the deceased priestess's face. If he was surprised at this,
he showed it not. He stood in the courtyard, his hair flickering
in the light breeze. His expresso colored eyes held her gaze easily.
"I need your help," Kikyo
spat.
"You need my help?" he asked,
a brow raised, "Whatever for?"
"My time draws near and
I do not have the strength to do what must be done. The reincarnation
of my father has appeared in this world. My desire for revenge is
too strong for my clay body."
"You wish for a jewel shard,"
Naraku stated, "You do not even have the strength to retrieve one on your
own. Where I still Onigumo, I would have granted that to you.
However, you've made it clear that you wish to kill me, Kikyo. Why
should I help you?"
"Name your price, Naraku,"
she said tiredly.
Naraku felt the corner of his mouth tilt upward in a smirk of triumph.
He nodded and motioned for Kikyo to follow him inside his palace.
Kikyo didn't hesitate as she walked gracefully after the evil half demon.
She hardened herself for whatever she may have to do to please Naraku and
gain the strength for her vengeance.
Her thoughts turned to the past. She had been
only 11. Her father, a great man in her eyes at the time, was leaving
that day. He said that he could no longer provide for his family
and it was only right that he leave them. She had cried, and even
more so when her mother had screamed after him not to leave. Her
hero had never turned to look back as he continued to walk away.
Their small family struggled to survive with no one to provide for them.
Her mother was heart broken. That heart break sapped her of strength
and it wasn't long after that she died.
Kikyo had to raise herself and Kaede. They
had wandered for a year, dirty, unkempt, and on the brink of starvation,
until a village had taken them in. The priestess of the village saw
the potential in Kikyo and trained her and Kaede for the next four years
of their lives. On a tragic day, the old priestess died and left
Kikyo the position. Kikyo's life had been decided for her because
of her father's selfishness.
And now that his reincarnation was in this world,
she would allow herself to feel that anger, that hatred toward him once
again. Even if this was a new life, it was the same soul. And
she would let that soul know of her hatred and her fate. Above all
else, everything came down to that day when her father left.
Naraku sensed the hatred and rage coating Kikyo's
aura. He smiled in delight. He remembered when this shell of
a woman behind him was once a regal, pure priestess. In her current
state, Kikyo could fully taint the Shikkon jewel. It was as he had
planned it so long ago. He could almost see the beauty of the Shikkon,
suffused with her dark thoughts. Yes, he would help Kikyo, if only
to see the beauty of the jewel before he consumed it.
The following morning, Kaede awoke early, urging
Kagome to wake up as well. It was time for her priestess training
to begin. The air was damp and cool and the sun was not even close
to showing up yet. The stars and waning moon decorated the deep blue
sky. Kagome quickly slipped into the red and white priestess robes
that Kaede offered her. The two women took a long walk into the nearby
forest. Kaede sat upon an old boulder with a flat top. She
instructed Kagome to sit on the grass.
"One of the most important
things to learn as a priestess is how to control your emotions. Ye
have good enough control for your 'mutant' powers, but it must be better.
We will begin with meditation exercises. Then we will work on bringing
out your purification powers at will. This will take time and dedication,
Kagome. And ye must learn to trust in your friends during this time,
because I cannot allow ye to join them in shard hunting for the duration
of your training," Kaede said solemnly.
"I understand. Kaede,
how long will this take?" Kagome asked, curiously.
"It all depends on how much
dedication and will ye have, child. Ye have a natural talent, and
that will help ye. Let us now begin."
"Hai, sensei," Kagome smiled.
Kaede nodded and smiled at the younger priestess and began to instruct
her on how to achieve a heightened meditative state.
Rogue woke up to the sound of InuYasha yelling about
Kagome missing. She yawned and stretched, glaring at the noisy half
demon. The others soon woke up to the same noise. Storm blasted
InuYasha out the door with a biting cold wind and dragged herself out of
the futon. Logan huffed and walked outside to talk to InuYasha.
He'd been awaken by Kaede's movements that morning and he knew where Kagome
was. He had to calm InuYasha down.
Shippo woke up Kirara and Sango, who promptly slapped
Miroku. Apparently the monk had been sleep groping yet again.
"Good morning to you too,
Lady Sango," Miroku said, rubbing his cheek.
Miroku turned to look at Rogue and smiled.
"Ya touch me, ya die," she
warned, before leaving the hut.
Miroku sighed. He was surrounded by women and yet he could have
none of them. What was a cursed monk to do?
Outside, InuYasha had been effectively calmed.
He paced back and forth.
"So what do we do while
Kagome trains?" Sango asked.
"Why don't we train too?"
Rogue spoke up, "No use waistin' time, right?"
"I agree," Storm added,
"It would be wise to sharpen our own skills for the battles to come."
"Feh! Fine!
But only until Kagome finishes her training. And if we hear of any
jewel shards, we will go after them!" InuYasha said, decisively.
"Sounds like a plan," Logan
agreed.
"Well, then. Lady
Sango would you train with me?" Miroku asked.
Sango looked at him skeptically and shrugged, what did she have to
lose. She doubted Miroku would try anything with Hiraikotsu in her
hand.
"Alright," she agreed.
Everyone soon split up into groups. Sango and Miroku, Storm and
Rogue, and Wolverine and InuYasha made up the three groups. They
went outside of the village and began their training. Shippo wasn't
in a particular group, but he would float between Sango's and Storm's groups.
He could tell he wouldn't be able to keep up in InuYasha's group.
Those two were really going at it.
Noon was as hot as the prior day. All the
groups paused to refresh themselves and eat. Kaede and Kagome came
back from the forest. Miroku could tell that Kagome had indeed gotten
stronger by sensing her aura. And for such a short amount of time,
it was impressive. Kagome smiled an exhausted smile at her friends
and sat down on the porch of the hut. She fanned herself and gratefully
took the cup of water offered by Sango.
"So how's the training?"
Rogue asked.
"Not bad," Kagome said softly,
"A little harder than I was waiting for, but not that much harder than
my training in the future."
"You look exhausted, Kagome.
Maybe you should take a break and go to the river for a bath?" Sango suggested.
"A nice cold bath does sound
heavenly, Kagome," Storm said, "Let us all go and cool off."
"Yes, that does sound wonderful.
May I join you ladies?" Miroku asked.
The ladies looked at each other before a resounding
echo of a slap could be heard. Miroku walked dazedly toward the guys
and sighed. InuYasha and Logan took one look at the two slap marks
on his cheeks and the two goose eggs on his head and chuckled while shaking
their heads.
"You never learn.
Do you, bouzo?" InuYasha asked.
"You're just lucky Storm
didn't fry you," Logan spoke up.
"How can I not want to join
four beautiful women in a soak at the river?" Miroku spoke up in his defense,
"I'd have to be an idiot."
"He's got a point you know,"
Logan said to InuYasha.
"Feh! If you two want
to take the chance of pissing off the girls, I'm not gonna stop ya.
But don't blame me if you come back hurtin'!"
"I never said I wanted to
be a Peeping Tom, InuYasha. I just meant he would have to be an idiot."
"Hmph!" Miroku replied,
leaving the two.
Miles away, Mesmero smiled at his accomplishment.
He had over a quarter of the Shikkon jewel fragments already. All
that was left was the half of the jewel the demon Naraku held and the remaining
fragments a certain young priestess and half demon held. He turned
away from the latest demon under his hold. He found himself face
to face with a young boy holding a sickle and wearing a mask. His
dull brown eyes surprised Mesmero.
"My master, Naraku, wishes
to meet with you," the boy spoke.
Mesmero tried to put a mental hold on the boy, but
he found it was impossible. He frowned. Seeing the boys dull
eyes once more, he knew that he was of the undead. He shivered lightly,
wondering just what kind of demon this Naraku was. Nevertheless,
he chose to follow the boy. Naraku, after all, held part of the jewel
needed to free his master, Apocalypse.
"Take me to him," Mesmero
spoke.
Kohaku turned and lead Mesmero and Chronos toward
the palace. Naraku watched from Kanna's mirror, Kikyo by his side.
He turned from the mirror and revealed a chunk of the jewel. It was
the same chunk she had stolen from her reincarnation. It was laced
with evil, it's deep purple swirling with black. She hesitated.
"Take the fragment as it
is, Kikyo. Can you not see the beauty of it? The raw power?
As it is, it could help you exact your vengeance powerfully. You
want revenge don't you?" He whispered in her ear, "Take the jewel and all
it's evil within you. Can't you feel it calling you?"
Indeed, Kikyo felt the call of the evil aura.
It lured and seduced her hatred and anger. She could feel herself
slipping into it's wicked grasp. Where she would have once resisted
and purified the jewel, she found she lacked the strength and will to do
so. The evil aura of the jewel felt too good to be denied.
She shivered as Naraku's knuckles brushed the nape of her neck as he fasted
the necklace on her.
Naraku removed the tie in her flowing black hair
and laced his fingers in it, letting it cascade through his hand like silk.
He could feel her give up her resistance against the power of evil in the
jewel. He smirked darkly from behind her.
"That's it, Kikyo," he urged
in a seductive whisper, "Take it all in, feel the pleasure the power can
provide you. Your vengeance is nigh."
"Yes. I will have
my revenge," she spoke in a heated whisper, laced in hatred and malice,
"I will kill them...both. My father, and InuYasha..."
"Yes," Naraku whispered
in delight, his hands delicately caressing her neck and shoulders.
Kikyo's eyes closed and she shivered. The jewel glowed a menacing
red and sank into her flesh. She fell into the waiting arms of Naraku,
her aura tainted black. Her flesh gained a healthy color and she
felt a faint heartbeat in her chest.
Naraku watched as warmth flooded through her body
and gave it real life. He smirked to himself. It couldn't have
been more perfect had he planned it from the start. Kikyo opened
her eyes, full of new life granted by the tainted jewel fragment, yet tinged
crimson by its malice. The once protector of the Shikkon jewel had
now become slave to the evil that had merged with it. Her hate and
anger grew and she could not deny the almost feral need to kill those that
had wronged her. The jewel within her breast called out for blood
and death. She had no choice now but to follow its beckoning.
"Now, Kikyo, I will name
my price," Naraku whispered, setting her on her feet again.
"What is it you desire?"
she asked.
"Only you," he replied,
sliding the top of her robes off.
Kikyo's crimson-brown eyes became half lidded at
his request. The evil in the Shikkon fragment within her wanted to
merge with the evil that was Naraku. She could not deny the pull,
it was too strong. She was almost trapped in her new body by anger
and hate. Even if she would change her mind, she could no longer
escape. She had made her choice. And as she found herself beneath
Naraku, her bare flesh pressed flush against his, she had to wonder.
Was this really worth revenge? Her cry of invasion echoed off the
walls in the palace as Onigumo's fantasy had at last become reality.